The Cleveland Cavaliers hope that their Darius Garland-James Harden trade swap at the deadline will keep them from further reconstructing the roster over the summer, as in tearing it down after another early playoff exit. On The Bill Simmons Podcast, Zach Lowe floated that possibility out, saying he'll be watching closely.
"I think they become a very interesting offseason team. Let's say they lose in the second round, and it's just another second round loss for this iteration of the Cavs. We've already seen them trade Garland. You just mentioned Mobley, and when is Mobley going to develop? The Giannis thing could be revisited. I'll be watching."
The domino that the front office doesn't want to fall is Donovan Mitchell leaving, which is part of the reason why it moved on from Garland for Harden. The former had played only 26 games, and that backcourt pairing didn't work out when both were healthy.
Adding Harden into the mix was a risk, notably because he has a reputation for shortcomings in elimination games. Still, the Cavaliers felt they needed to make a change, and fast.
Cavaliers hoping to avoid another early playoff exit
Cleveland wants to escape the dark cloud that's been hanging over its head for the past three years. The team has failed to make it past the second round with Mitchell, a trend they can only hope will change in just a few short weeks.
If not, it could end up marking the end of the guard's stint with the Cavaliers, as he'll be eligible to sign an extension this summer. He has a player option he could decline in 2027, making him an unrestricted free agent. This could be Cleveland's last shot to push for a championship with the star guard.
Or, of course, the organization could sway Mitchell to hang around, at least to start next season, if they trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo. The 31-year-old will first have to let the Bucks know that he doesn't intend on signing an extension (he'll become eligible to do so on Oct. 1), and Milwaukee will have to finally accept that the best way to move forward is to trade its homegrown star.
Cleveland doesn't have the same attachment to Mitchell that Milwaukee has to Antetokounmpo, but he was still dubbed the Cavaliers' new savior when they swooped in to acquire him from the Jazz in 2022. They didn't do so on the assumption that they'd consistently come up short of the conference finals.
If they can't make a postseason run, as Lowe said, it could be an interesting offseason for Cleveland, and not in the way that fans might hope.